CHICKEN POX
Elderly also at risk as they tend to have weaker immune system
ESTHER NG, estherng@mediacorp.com.sg
CHICKEN pox is mild and patients usually make a full recovery, but it tends to be treated as a childhood illness. Which may explain why the elderly don't bother to get themselves vaccinated against it.
A check by Today with eight clinics in Tampines, Bukit Merah and Commonwealth showed that requests for immunisation are usually from parents for their young children.
"We've not seen a marked increase though SM Goh getting chicken pox has generated a lot of publicity. Most of my patients (for the vaccination) are young children and teenagers," said Dr Lawrence Soh from Shalom Clinic and Surgery at Bukit Merah.
Recently, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, 68, was hospitalised for 12 days for chicken pox.
At SingHealth Polyclinics, 145 children under 12 years old were immunised against the illness between January and March this year. Only 49 people older than that were vaccinated.
Yet it is the elderly that are more at risk when they contract the virus, as they tend to have a weaker immune system. On his discharge, SM Goh advised the elderly who have not gotten the illness before to get themselves vaccinated.
Most people get chicken pox when young, but the elderly can get a condition called shingles, said Dr Leslie Tay from Karri Family Clinic at Tampines. "This is a reactivation of the same virus that causes chicken pox," said the general practitioner.
However, the vaccine is not suitable for everyone.
SingHealth Polyclinics' assistant director of clinical services, Dr Ruth Lim, said that anyone who has a life-threatening allergy to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin should not ask to be immunised as the chicken pox vaccine contains these.
"If you've had a previous serious reaction to your first dose of the chicken pox vaccine then obviously you should not come back for the second dose," she said.
People with a weakened immune system, such as those receiving a high dosage of steroids or those undergoing chemotherapy should not be vaccinated as well.
"The vaccine is a live virus — meaning that the chicken pox virus has been rendered weak so that it won't cause the disease. But if your immune system is not strong enough, you may still get an outbreak of chicken pox," said Dr Tay.
Pregnant women or those planning to get pregnant within the month are also advised not to immunise themselves. This is because "the effect of the vaccine on the foetus are unknown", said Dr Lim.
Serious complications like septicaemia (an infection of the blood), pneumonia, and brain inflammation can occur during a bout of chicken pox. But such occurrences are "very rare", according to Dr Lim and Dr Tay.
When these happen, they tend to be in adults with weak immune systems.
The chicken pox vaccine is 70 per cent effective if administered within 72 hours of exposure to the virus. Depending on age and the type of vaccine used, a single or a double dose is required. A single dose costs between $60 to $72 at polyclinics, while a two-dose package will cost more than $120.
From TODAYOnline.com, Singapore News – Wednesday, 27-May-2009; see the source article here.
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